The Insanity of the Last Days
by astyrgrif
Summary: AU, character death. There is an sandglass that sits on Kaiba's table. It represents his life, which will soon be over. How many loose ends will be tied up before all the sand drips to the bottom? And what will Yugi and Co. do when they find out?
1. Prologue, Part One: Dealing with Death

**Okay, I'm an idiot. I managed to forget the disclaimer twice. Well, here it is: Yu-Gi-Oh! belongs to someone who is not me.**

**There's also a minor change in here now. Just an age thing that I figured would make more sense later. It might, it might not. Oh well.**

**And one more thing, for future reference. In this fic, I suppose I'm sort of mashing the anime and manga together. I'm using English dub names, Japanese anime timeline (Seto was adopted when he was 10, and is therefore 16 when all that insane crap happens), and some of the manga plot points (Gozaburo's suicide).**

**If you've already read this, and are just rereading to see if I made any major changes, don't bother. I just made up my mind about the ending, so I needed to fill in a couple of future plotholes.**

**

* * *

The Insanity of the Last Days**

**Prologue, Part One: Dealing With Death**

Death glanced up at the clock tower. It was twenty-seven past three. Four minutes left.

3:28

3:29

3:30

3:30:49

3:30:52

3:30:57

3:31:00

3:31:02

It was at that very moment that a blue sedan hit a patch of ice, and careened out of control.

3:31:07

A scream that would've blown Death's eardrums had Death been alive rang out.

3:31:11

Death drifted forward quickly, and found the boy. Death extended a hand, and gripped the boy's hand, pulling his spirit out of his body.

'Hey, what's going on?' the boy asked.

'So, you're Seto?' Death inquired, pen hovering over clipboard to cross off the boy's name.

'Yes, that's me. Who are you?'

'I am Death. And I'm here to tell you that your life has ended. It is my job to welcome you to the next state.'

'State?'

'I suppose you could call it the next life, but that's not quite right, since your life is over, but whatever.'

'_Wait just a second!_'

Death looked up, startled by the boy's outburst, and dropped the pen. 'What?'

'I can't be dead! I _won't_ be dead!'

'Oh, don't worry. You'll get used to it. Besides, your parents are waiting. Don't you want to see them?' Death said, hoping to bribe him over to the other side.

'Well, yeah, I do - '

'Then what's the problem?' Death inquired, cutting Seto off.

'Hey! I wasn't done talking!'

'Oh, weren't you? I don't see what else you have to say.'

'That's because I haven't said it yet, bitch!'

'You really shouldn't swear. How old are you? Twelve, wasn't it?'

'And three months!'

'Oh, yes, that makes _such_ a big difference.'

Seto shot Death a glare. '_Anyway_, as I was saying, I can't die yet! I need to keep my promise to Mokuba! He needs me now more than ever now that we're stuck with Gozaburo!'

'Gozaburo Kaiba, right? Well, if it makes you feel better, he'll be dead in... hmm, let me see...' Death flicked through the clipboard. 'Oh, here he is. Three years.'

'I can't wait that long for him to drop dead!'

'Sure you can, kid. Now come on, let's go.' Death replied, kneeling down and picking up the fallen pen.

'I'll make you a deal!' Seto pleaded desperately.

'Oh?' Death paused, interested.

'Give me time... just a few years, to take care of loose ends and... unfulfilled promises.'

'What's in it for me?'

'I... I don't know...' Seto looked down, hopelessness threatening to overwhelm him.

'Tell you what, Seto, I'll give you a couple more years, and you can have your adoptive daddy drop by a little earlier than scheduled, hmm? How does that sound?'

'You want me to kill him?'

'More or less, yes.'

'More or less?'

'Ensure that he dies, using whatever means necessary.'

'How long?'

'To kill Gozaburo, one year. To continue living, well, we'll see how those loose ends of yours are going, but no more than six years. Sound fair?'

'It'll have to do, I guess. Okay.'

'Alright then, kiddo,' Death pulled out two sandglasses, one edged with dark wood, and heavily ornamented, the other lighter, and simpler. 'The lighter one is how long you have to ensure Gozaburo comes to me. The other is your life.'

'Oh, uh, thanks?'

'Yeah, yeah, whatever. Now come on, we've got to get you back in your body. Lucky for you I haven't crossed your name off yet.' As if to emphasise this, Death stuffed the pen into the cloak that was dramatically billowing in the imaginary wind.


	2. Prologue, Part Two: To Lose is to Die

**The Insanity of the Last Days**

**Prologue, Part Two: To Lose is to Die**

Eight months had passed since Seto's death, or rather, not-quite-death. The two sandglasses now sat by Seto's bed, sand trickling slowly into the lower glass bulbs.

Approximately six minutes from now, one of the sandglasses would be rendered useless.

-.-.-.-

Seto leered at Gozaburo. 'It's over. I win.' he said.

A blink from the cornered man. Not a blink of terror, anger, or even shock. Just a blink. An ordinary blink.

'Yes, I suppose you do.' Gozaburo conceded, with what seemed to be a sigh.

Seto paused, wondering what the appropriate thing to do would be. Should he take his chances and strangle the man? Or should he gloat a bit more first?

'What is your reward, though?' Gozaburo continued, seemingly challenging the boy.

Seto considered for about 0.834547873485 seconds. 'Life.' he answered simply, thinking of the sandglasses, one of which remained in his room, the other he had in his pocket.

Gozaburo gave him a weird look. 'You think, boy, that by triumphing once over me, you win? And that your prize is _life_? I'm not sure what planet you live on, but it has a population of _one_. You're insane.'

Seto smirked at this. 'Once? This one victory is all that matters. I've just pulled the rug out from under your feet, so to speak. I have your company, and you have nothing. Therefore, I win, and you lose. Checkmate.'

A look of defeat crossed Gozaburo's features as he realised just how true Seto's word were, then he recomposed himself, and pasted a look of cold indifference on his face. 'Just remember this, Seto _Kaiba_, to lose is to _die_.'

With that, Gozaburo walked over to the window, opened it, and stepped out, not looking back.

Seto frowned, considering what had just happened, pulled out the sandglass representing Gozaburo's life, and flung it out the window after his adoptive father.


	3. Chapter One: Realisation

**I don't own, I don't claim to, I don't get sued. All good?**

**And if you were wondering why I haven't updated, real life booted me in the ass. It hurt.**

**Many thanks to reviewers! I love you all in the least disturbing way possible.**

* * *

**The Insanity of the Last Days**

**Chapter One: Realisation**

For four years the sandglass had sat, looking altogether too innocent, on Seto's desk, slightly to the left of his phone.

For four years the sandglass had slowly blended in, becoming part of the scenery. No one, save Seto and Death, knew what it was for, but they knew it was there, and there to stay.

For four years the sandglass had been ignored, save for the occasional dusting.

Four years of borrowed life, and two to go.

-.-.-.-

Blue eyes narrowed, and Seto slammed down the phone angrily.

'Bloody bastard.' he muttered, eyes flicking left and right in annoyance.

'Seto!' Mokuba's voice resonated through the house, and a few moments later, a black haired streak burst through the double doors, bumped into the desk, knocking the phone to the floor, and the sandglass tumbled after it.

'Crap!' Mokuba swore, as his brother leapt out of his chair and over his desk. The sandglass fell into Seto's hands, and his fingers wrapped around it, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

'Holy shit...' Seto muttered under his breath, just realising that he didn't know what would happen if the sandglass broke. Surprisingly, or rather, unsurprisingly, when one thought about it, the sand's steady trickle had not been interrupted.

'Sorry, Seto. I didn't mean to...' Mokuba murmured, ducking his head.

'It's okay.' Seto gave a small smile. 'No harm done, right?'

'Yeah.'

-.-.-.-

Seto sighed, sinking back into his leather office chair (which, to Mokuba's delight, had wheels, so the younger Kaiba could wheel himself down the hallway while spinning like a crazed tadpole). Seto stared at the sandglass, sand trickling unassumingly down into the lower bulb.

_Four years_. He shivered. It had been four years since his 'death', and there was only so much time left. Of course, it was better than being dead and leaving Mokuba to fend for himself against Gozaburo, but two years? Seto was sixteen now, and Mokuba had just turned twelve. Neither of them were technically old enough to live on their own, without a legal guardian, but the court always seemed to overlook their situation. (What bribes? Of course Seto hadn't bribed them, and definitely not with fancy, stainless steel cars and large wads of cash...) But they _couldn't_ overlook a twelve-year-old with no guardians, even if said twelve-year-old was a multibillionaire and willing to expend large amounts of cash to ensure that he was not chucked into an orphanage or into the care of government appointed foster parents. Two years wouldn't make much difference. Back then, it had been chaotic. Gozaburo had been killed, sending one of the world's largest weapons manufacturers into an uproar. Amongst the confusion, Seto had stepped in and taken charge of KaibaCorp, changing it from an arms producer to a company specialising in the most advanced technology money could buy (which included coffee makers that made the best coffee ever).

Seto sighed, and walked out the door, calling to Mokuba over his shoulder that he'd be back in a moment. He walked down three streets, and entered a building. Consulting his solicitor, Seto composed his will.

-.-.-.-

_LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT(1)_

_of_

_Seto Ryuu(2) Kaiba_

_I hereby declare that this is my last will and testament and that I hereby revoke, cancel and annul all wills and codicils previously made by me either jointly or severally. I declare that I am of sound mind and that this last will and testament expresses my wishes without undue influence or duress..._

-.-.-.-

_... I hereby set my hand on the 6th day of October, 2004(3), at 9:43pm in the presence of undersigned witnesses._

Seto's hand trembled as he scrawled his signature on the line.

* * *

**(1) This isn't totally correct setting out, but you get the general idea.**

**(2) Supposedly means 'dragon spirit'. I thought it was appropriate. :P**

**(3) I have no idea what year the actual anime is supposed to be set during, so I chucked in a random year.**

**Short chapter, but I thought it was a halfway decent ending place. Besides, these first few will be mainly fillers. Sub names, or dub names? Can't decide... I associate different names with different personalities. (Anzu is slightly more bearable and generally nicer than Tea, for example.) I know I said I'd use dub, but I just don't know! ARGH! -head explodes-**


End file.
